ftl_captains_editionfandomcom-20200214-history
Tips
Reflecting the vast content it introduces, Captain's Edition added several new tips that can randomly pops up at the start of the game. New Tips * AI Crew ** Holographic crew members are not as tough as organic or partly organic beings, but they can get any job done and don't require oxygen. * AI Controlled Sectors ** These sectors are taken over by rogue combat AIs. The all-consuming nano-bot clouds that these AIs command are one of the most hazardous places in the galaxy. * Acid Clouds ** These industrial hazards will damage your ship while charging your FTL drive. Time consuming activities like salvaging and the usage of certain augments will result in more damage. * Alternative Targets ** Keep in mind that Weapons and Shields are not always the prime targets. Some enemies might rely on different systems for attacking or defending themselves. Target them accordingly. * Anomalies ** These rare, unexplainable hazards will jam your sensors, drone communication and weapon targeting. * Anti-Hull Weapons ** Some weapons and drones deal extra damage when fired at empty rooms. While they perform poorly against small ships, they can come in handy against enemies with a lot of hullpoints and empty rooms, like space stations and cruisers. * Armed Space Stations ** Enemy space stations have strong hulls but usually no engines. That means they can not move and therefore are unable to dodge. Use this to your advantage. * Artillery Class Weapons ** Some weapons have devastating firepower, but cool down slowly and cannot deplete shields effectively. They work great against enemies with low evasion, but might need support weapons to deplete enemy shields. * Artillery Offense ** Some ships have access to devastating artillery, but depend on normal weapons to weaken enemy defenses. * Artillery System ** The expensive artillery system you can buy at stores will equip your ship with its signature artillery weapon, often providing a strong boost for your offense. * Auto Lasers ** These lasers seem weak on their own, but can make formidable support weapons if you can deplete the enemy shields with other guns. * Auto Sectors ** This sectors are under the control of automated construction ships. You will rarely encounter manned ships here. * Black Holes ** Jumping near a black hole is actually much less dangerous than it sounds. However, you will need to spend more fuel to escape its gravitational pull. * Breaking Ceasefire Agreements ** Attacking an opponent whose surrender offer has been accepted constitutes an intergalactic war crime. This might disturb your crew a bit. * Burst Missile Launchers ** Some missile launchers fire multiple weak projectiles. These weapons are perfect to take out critical systems on fast moving, well shielded enemies. * Capital Ships ** Your cruiser is not designed to fight every type of ship. If you feel that your enemy outright outclasses you, then trying to flee might be your best bet. * Cargo Ships and Freighters ** These ships often carry valuable cargo. They possess little firepower and rely on powerful engines and jump drives to avoid confrontations. * Cargo Space ** Trade goods take up Augmentation slots. Make sure you have enough cargo space when buying commodities. If you realize that your holds are already full then you can still sell the goods back to the shop with minimal scrap loss. * Cargo Teleporters ** Stores sometimes have cargo teleporters, allowing you to sell and buy goods without loosing time. Stores in trade-affine sector types (most civilian) are more likely to have cargo teleporters. * Checkpoints ** Checkpoint stations are often attacked and are therefore equipped with clone bays to protect their staff. They can have various other systems as well. * Civilian Coreworlds ** These peaceful sectors offer a lot of opportunities to work and trade, but be careful, losing the Rebel fleet will be harder in populated areas and you never know who might give your position away to them. * Cloaked Projectiles ** Some weapons fire cloaked missiles or drop stealth mines. These projectiles can only be intercepted by level 2 defense drones. * Combat Augment Power Cost ** The energy cost of combat augments can be offset with the internal generator augment. You can engineer it at empty beacons if you have combat augments. * Combat Augments ** Combat augments can disrupt your opponent's systems during battle. Without special equipment your ship can only power one of these augments at the same time. * Combat Events ** A lot of things can happen in ship-to-ship combat. Don't let your guard down. * Crew Background ** Most of your crewmen will have been around in the galaxy for some time. Conversing with certain crew in certain sectors might result in interesting reveals. * Crew Interaction ** An old Federation proverb says: "If you get to a place with nothing else to do, you can always just chat with your crew." * Crew Morale ** Maintaining a good relationship with your crew is good for morale. And conversing regularly with your crew might open you all kinds of possibilities. * Debris Fields ** The destruction of bigger ships might create vast debris fields. You can choose to spend more time in order to salvage additional materials, but the Rebel fleet will catch up faster if you do so. * Drone Carriers ** These slow ships will use attack drones as their primary mean of attacking, but can't power a lot of conventional weaponry. * EW Platforms ** Electronic Warfare stations are always equipped with hacking systems. Be prepared to deal with system disruption when engaging them. * Effectors ** These electronic-warfare devices surpass shields, allowing you to shut down enemy systems at will. Use them to target key systems. * Enemy Combat Augments ** Enemy combat augments work just like the ones deployed by you. Discovering the effects and limitations of different combat augments can teach you how to defend yourself against them. * Exotic Ships ** Some enemy ships are specialized in unique ways and might be equipped with distinct armaments or equipment. Try to discover their capabilities and weaknesses to deal with them effectively. You can always flee from an encounter if you are not sure what you are dealing with. * Faction Artillery ** Buy the artillery system to discover the various artillery guns available. Certain ships might receive different kinds of artillery. * Fast Reloading Defense Drone ** More advanced defense drones fire very fast and should be able to take down multiple incoming projectiles at once. * Federation Controlled Sectors ** Federation controlled sectors will be under Rebel attack when you arrive. There will be fierce fighting almost everywhere. * Fighters, Bombers and Assault Classes ** These ships are well rounded and have no special strengths and weaknesses. Like all enemies, their equipment and weapon load-out depends on the faction they belong to. * Fighting Rebel Cruisers ** Taking out Rebel cruisers can throw the fleet into disarray and buy you some time, but fleeing from these powerful ships might often be the better option. * Focused Beams ** Some beam weapons deal high damage, but can an only hit one room. Use them to get through enemy shields or to damage fast moving opponents. * Hazard Sectors ** The Rebel fleet will struggle to pursue you through these sectors full of ion storms and asteroid fields. Exploring them isn't always advisable. Hazard Sectors have little infrastructure and are full of dangers. * High Demand ** There is always a region of space where even the most ordinary of goods are in high demand. If you know where your freight is really needed you can make very high profits with a single haul. * Hives and Broodstations ** Some factions heavily rely on cloning facilities to swell their ranks. When you find yourself near one of their cloning stations you will have to deal with almost endless waves of boarders. * Hunter Classes ** Some enemy ships are specialized for injuring and killing your crew and might even use weaponry designed for that purpose. Keep an eye on your crew's health and make good use of your medbay when encountering them. * Ice Fields ** Ice fields exist in remote areas far away from active stars. These areas have almost no background radiation to speak of, which makes cloaking devices useless and hiding impossible within them. * Industrial Sectors ** These nebula type sectors feature large, hazard rich dust clouds that might often best be avoided, unless you want to risk salvaging the derelict equipment that can often be found within them. * Interceptors ** These fast ships can dodge a lot of your attacks. Target their helm or engines first to slow them down. Burst weapons and powerful beams can make short work of them. *Ion Barriers **This curious space phenomena create massive barriers that emit strong ion fields. Your shields will be weakened near them. *Ion Drones **These drones are mainly useful for ionizing enemy shields, as you can not control where they aim. *Light Drones **These drones are designed to injure enemy crew, but cannot damage the enemy ship's hull. They are especially useful to soften up resistance before your boarders move in. *Light Lasers **These lasers are good for killing crew, but can not deplete shields or damage systems and ship hull. Use them to empty ships of personnel or to support your boarders and keep an eye on your crews health when you are taking fire from light lasers. *Making Surrender Offers **Bigger compensation offers will increase the chance of your surrender being accepted. Most opponents will always accept a good enough offer. *Mantis Sectors **The Mantis will often try to overwhelm you with boarders. Their brood stations and convoys can teleport almost infinite amounts of warriors to your ship. *Medevacs **These medical support ships are always equipped with proper medbays and usually transport extra crew, which makes boarding them quite difficult. *Mine Defense **Defense drones can easily pick off space mines that approach your ship. This is of course especially usefully if you happen to jump into a minefield. *Minefields **Fights in Minefields will cause proximity mines to home in on your ship early in the fight. Jump away before they hit you, or use drones or engine power to counter them. *Mines **Space mines explode in close proximity to ships, dealing maximum damage to the hull. They cannot damage systems or crew and travel quite slow. Use them to finish off weakened enemies. *Missile Drone Defense **Be aware that your own defense drones can also intercept the slow missiles fired by anti-ship missile drones. *Nano-Bot Clouds **Nanite swarms are capable of disassembling your hull and can disrupt all systems. This nebula hazard usually won't affect the enemy ships and should best be avoided entirely. *Non-Lethal Artillery **Some artillery weapons deal no damage, but nevertheless provide great advantages in combat, such as ionizing enemy ships or incapacitating crew. *Outposts **These military stations are well armed. Prepare for a tough fight when happening upon one. *Piracy **Resorting to piracy will disillusion your crew and might make them desert your cause, but can also net you additional scrap and trade goods. *Pirate Factions **Some aliens are known to prey on defenseless ships on a regular basis. The crew of these factions' ships will not revolt if you engage in piracy. *Pirate Homeworlds **Strong pirate cruisers roam the pirate strongholds. Better come prepared. *Planetary Artillery **This defense weapon charges slow but pierces all shields and can cause fires and breaches. UI prompts will inform you about its targeting cycle and can tell you which rooms it will hit. *Planetary Beams **This defense weapon charges slow but will shoot right through your shields and ship, causing breaches. UI prompts will inform you about its targeting cycle and can tell you which rooms it will hit. *Planetary Defense Weapons **Advancing into hostile territory might confront you with heavy planetary defense weapons. These guns charge slow; it is best to jump away before they fire. *Player Surrender **Remember that you often can try to surrender if you are actively attacked. This might cost you some resources, but can save you life in certain situations. *Pollution **These industrial smog clouds will affect your ship's sensors and clog the engines. Pollution hazards can vary in density, more dense clouds will have stronger effects on engines and sensors. *Production Augments **Some augments can help you to conserve or gather resources. You need to find a beacon where you are undisturbed in order to use them. *Quarantine Sectors **Some civilian sectors are under lockdown after dangerous diseases have spread. The plague might take its toll on your crew but many people also will want to leave the system and might join you. *Quick Selling **You can always sell your trade goods directly to the shop, but only at bad prices. This way you can quickly get rid of excess cargo. *Rebel Cruisers **When the fleet catches up with you, you might have to fight strong Rebel elite cruisers and the Rebels will also station these ships at exit beacons. *Rebel Point Defense System **If the fleet catches up with you the Rebels might consider finishing you off with a long range artillery barrage. Their PDS weapons charge faster than planetary defenses, try to get away in time. *Repair Ships **These slow and fragile support ships are always equipped with various repair drones, which makes damaging them quite difficult. They might even repair hull damage throughout the fight. *Rock Sectors **Extremely tough stations and many missile wielding enemies can be encountered in this sectors. The Black Hole hazard is also common here. *Scouts **These ships only have weak hulls, but can bring a lot of firepower to the fight. *Sector Names **Sector names contain key words that give away which faction controls them. In time you will get a feel for what sector type to expect. *Sector Trade Capacity **Some sectors are more suitable for trading then others. Far out places and regions with disrupted economy have less to offer. Stable core regions, on the other hand, sell and buy a lot of goods at good prices. *Selling Goods **Trade goods sell prices are negotiable, resulting in slightly random profit from each haul. Sell prices are more likely to sway in your favor when selling goods with higher rarity levels. *Ship Size **The amount of rooms an enemy ship has factors into how effective certain drones are against them. Most drones excel when attacking smaller ships, because they are more likely to hit crew and systems. *Slow Reloading Defense Drone **Some defense drones reload slow and cannot take a shot at every incoming missile, they will however take out the fist missile fired at you, doing that at minimal power requirements. They are also ineffective when defending against asteroids. *Slug "Flexibility" **The Federation is well known to use Slug auxiliaries for their dirty work. Your crew will not expect you to stick to the rules if you command a Slug vessel. *Supply and Demand **Trade goods can not be event-sold in sectors where they are for sale. You can still quick-sell the commodities at the shop to free up cargo space, but delivering them to other sectors and then selling them in trade events makes better money. *Surveyors and Instigators **Some ship classes rely on mind control systems to force your crew to sabotage your ship. You will have to somehow deal with your turned crewmen if you encounter them. *Tech Missile Launchers **Some missile weapons can scramble enemy defense systems and will only be shot down by level 2 defense drones. *Trade Advantage **Trading might seem like a waste of time at first, but keep in mind that it is much less risky than roaming around the sector. *Trade Goods Level **Trade goods come at different scarcities (basic, common, uncommon, rare, legendary). This puts them into different price ranges. Buying more expansive goods requires greater investments, but also nets bigger profits with one haul. *Trade Routes **Trading is most lucrative between sectors of different types (civilian, hostile, hazard). Check the sector map and plan your route through the sectors accordingly to increase your profits. *Trading Time **Negotiating prices and transferring cargo usually takes a lot of time. If you engage in trade at shops the Rebel fleet will catch up with you faster. *Troopships **These ships are almost always equipped with teleporters and transport a lot of personnel. Get your crew ready for close combat when you encounter them. *Trustworthiness of Opponents **Not all your opponents will obey to the general etiquette of space combat. Certain factions might attack you again after you transfered a surrender offer. *UI Prompts **Some weapons leave no visible traces, but your ship's computer will inform you about their activity with small UI prompts. The computer will also warn you about dangerous weapons fired at you via these prompts. *Utility Bombs **Some bombs are designed to be beamed into your own ship, but they can still miss. If you want to make sure that they hit you will have to de-power your engines before firing them. *Weapon Spread **Certain weapons, like swarm missile launchers and heavy scatter lasers, spread their projectiles over a wide area. This way they deal good damage to the ship's hull, but less damage to crew and systems inside the ship. *Zoltan Diplomacy **Commanding a ship of the wise Zoltan will give you a natural degree of authority. You will be able to negotiate favorable surrender offers and find peaceful resolutions for many conflicts. Commented-out Tips * Encased Systems ** Some enemy ships have certain systems deeply encased within their ship. The icon for these systems are displayed on the borders between rooms. Encased systems can't be damaged by any weapon or drones.